Family fears for Mass. pastor abducted in Egypt

This undated photo released Saturday, July 14, 2012 by the Free Pentecostal Church of God in Boston shows the church's pastor, the Rev. Michel Louis, abducted with two others in Egypt while touring with a church group. (AP photo/Free Pentecostal Church of God, Boston)

BOSTON (AP) — The family of a Boston Pentecostal pastor abducted in Egypt on Saturday appealed to his captor to release the 61-year-old man, saying he is a diabetic and the family fears for his health.

The son of Rev. Michel Louis told The Associated Press that his father was on a church trip to retrace Jesus' steps through the Holy Land with 23 other members of the clergy and worshippers when he was abducted. Along with him, a 39-year-old Boston woman in the group and a tour guide were kidnapped in broad daylight Friday.

Jirmy Abu-Masuh, an Egyptian Bedouin, told the AP he was armed when he stopped the bus on a road linking Cairo to Mount Sinai, ordered the three to get off and took them captive. He said they would be released only after police release his uncle from prison, and he vowed to take more hostages of different nationalities if his demands were not met.

Louis' son, Rev. Jean Louis, said his father was making his annual mission trip to the Holy Land.

"He's been doing it for the past four years now, and this just turned out to be a little different from any other year," said the younger Louis, who works as a youth pastor at a church founded by his father. "He's a diabetic, so we'd like the person that, or the people that have him in captivity, to know that. We're just concerned for his health. But we know that the governments are working very hard negotiating."

U.S. Embassy spokesman David Linfield said the embassy was looking into the kidnapping and working closely with Egyptian authorities who were doing everything to ensure their safe release.

The abduction took place along the road linking Cairo to the sixth-century St. Catherine's Monastery, located at the foot of Mount Sinai where the Old Testament says Moses received the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments. The route is a frequent target by Bedouins who abduct tourists to pressure police to meet their demands, which is usually to release a detained relative they say has been unjustly arrested.

Friday's abduction was the latest in a series of kidnappings in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula over the past year. Abducted tourists are rarely harmed and usually released within days.

Louis' son said the family is concerned about all three captives and does not want to discuss communications with the U.S. government so as not to jeopardize the chances for their release.

"Any other family or anybody that has loved ones that are in a situation like that can feel ... a bit uneasy," Louis said outside the family home in Boston's neighborhood of Mattapan. "In spirit, we are confident, we believe in God and we know that our God is active and is real and is gonna intervene on our behalf."

The Louis family gathered at the elder pastor's home Saturday to pray and comfort each other. The elder Louis is pastor of the Free Pentecostal Church of God.

"We have a little command center, crisis command center inside and we are trying our best to do what we can do and be very calm in our action also," Louis said. "... we have some good people that are praying for us across the country, across the world ... we thank everybody that's working on our behalf."

Abu-Masuh, of the Tarbeen tribe in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, told the AP that Egypt's Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri called him personally and asked him to release the Americans "who are guests in our country." He said his uncle called him from prison pleading the same and fearing police might arrest his children or wife to pressure Abu-Masuh.

But Abu-Masuh insists that police release his 62-year-old uncle, who he said suffers from back and heart problems and diabetes. He said his uncle was arrested a week ago after refusing to pay a bribe to police who stopped him along the way.